New report crowns the ‘Silicon Prairie’ capital

The Windy City was again named the capital of the so-called Silicon Prairie region.

Chicago ranked No. 7 in the 2015 Global Startup Ecosystem Ranking, a report compiled by market research firm Compass. The United States dominated the list, which crowned Silicon Valley as No. 1, followed by New York City, Los Angeles and Boston, respectively.

The report analyzes such data as a metro’s investment performance and exit valuations, venture capital investments, tech talent availability and cost, international market reach and local gross domestic product.

Kansas City, and other cities in the Silicon Prairie, failed to enter the rankings. The prairie refers to several states in the Midwest region, including Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. A few notable startup ecosystems in the prairie include Chicago, Kansas City, St. Louis, Omaha, Lincoln, Fargo and Des Moines.

Chicago snagging the Silicon Prairie’s crown should come as no surprise. The city’s metro population — more than 9.8 million people — tops all of the aforementioned cities’ populations combined.

Chicago jumped from No. 10 in 2012 to now No. 7, earning high marks for its market reach and startups that have surpassed $1 billion valuations. The report estimates that Chicago is home to 1,800 – 3,000 active tech startups and Chicago now has more than 40,000 tech jobs, 15,000 of which have been created in just the last four years.

International startup ecosystems that ranked in the report included No. 5 Tel Aviv, No. 6 London, No. 9 Berlin and No. 10 Singapore. To read the report, click here.